1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for reducing power consumption in a digital broadcast receiver, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for reducing the total power consumption in a broadcast receiver by interrupting power supply to unnecessarily-operated blocks of the broadcast receiver.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the start of a test service for digital broadcasting, a demand for a digital broadcast receiver (e.g., a set top box) increases and thus supply of the digital broadcast receiver increases greatly.
To accord with this trend, attempts continue to be made to reduce power consumption in a digital broadcast receiver as well as in general household appliances, and a variety of standby power reduction methods are implemented using new technologies. For example, Korean Patent No. 0393574, Korean Patent No. 0386246, and Korean Patent Publication No. 2005-0000823 disclose a device (circuit) for reducing standby power of an electronic device. However, researches on a method for reducing the total power consumption in the digital broadcast receiver are insufficient.
In the digital broadcast receiver, a tuner and a decoder are the main components that generate a great amount of heat and consume much power. Moreover, the tuner and the decoder unnecessarily consume the power even in a standby state.